


Escaped

by ZarAlexander



Series: Free! [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 06:47:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7256710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZarAlexander/pseuds/ZarAlexander
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Matsuoka Rin didn't know why his own voice sounded so surprised. He had seen it coming, after all – maybe not now, maybe not like this, but this whole situation had been very obvious to him for quite a while already." [OneShot, introspective, companion piece to "Bound, first impressions after episode 6th of Eternal Summer]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Escaped

**Author's Note:**

> English is still not my native language :)  
> I'm up for challenges, requests and whatnot...! Let me know how you liked this one, all feedback is appreciated!

_It's easier to run_ **  
**Replacing this pain with something numb **  
**It's so much easier to go **  
**Than face all this pain here all alone

_(“Easier to Run” - Linkin Park)_

  


“Did Makoto enter the freestyle competition as well?”

Matsuoka Rin didn't know why his own voice sounded so surprised.

He had seen it coming, after all – maybe not now, maybe not like this, but this whole situation had been very obvious to him for quite a while already.

And, possibly, to him alone?

To be fair, he had never truly expected Haruka to understand, as unintentionally blindsided as he was, but Makoto? Rin had really thought he'd realize much sooner.

Just like it had happened to himself after that science lesson back then, when suddenly everything had become crystal clear.

“A _black hole_ is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out.”, his teacher had explained and there it was, in front of his very eyes, the solution to his struggles.

Haruka was like a black hole, everything gravitated around him, pulled in with an incredible force.  
Makoto was like a ray of sunshine, sucked into Haruka's field so violently that all of his light was promptly smothered.

It made sense, didn't it?

To Rin it did. It explained that weird feeling of fear and excitement he had whenever he was near Haru-chan, like the void in your stomach when you're in the car and go down a slope a bit too fast.

For a while – a short while, thankfully – he had been like sunlight as well, pivoting around Haruka and being dragged lower and lower by that immense, inexplicable gravity.

“And... how do you win against a black hole?”

“You don't, Matsuoka-kun.” the teacher had replied, smiling fondly “You just try to stay as far as possible from them, or you get sucked in.”

And that's exactly what Rin had done.   
He hadn't been too sure if a few thousand miles and a continent in between him and his collapsed star would really be enough “not to get sucked in”, but, at least, it had been easy to explain to everyone else. Prestigious swimming-centered school to continue his studies, a huge effort in not wanting to disappoint his deceased father and all that jazz.

Nobody had questioned his intentions, back then.  
Except Makoto, of course. Poor fella probably wasn't even aware, but his gaze, his eyes as Rin had announced he was moving to Australia...

They were begging.  
Begging for an answer, for a way out, for that same relief that had been so scary and yet welcomed for Rin himself.

That's why he had honestly thought Makoto wouldn't last much longer.  
Not like that, right next to Haru-chan, not supporting his every move with the same abnegation of a parent raising his child, without expecting nothing in return.

If only because – and again Makoto himself didn't fully get that – he _did_ want something (anything?) in return. Not necessarily something astounding, even just a word, a gesture, a sign of acknowledgement would have been enough.

But once again, the black hole metaphor was way too fitting – it didn't matter how much love, passion and dedication Makoto poured into Haruka. Nothing would ever come out of it.

That was why Rin had been surprised.  
Flash forward a few years, and there he was, still next to Haru-chan, still subdued, chained, bound.

However...

However once more Makoto's eyes were speaking a lot clearer than his conscious self, and there was something else, this time. Something Rin couldn't quite understand.   
It was a gleam, a faint sparkle, it was...

Anger?

He could only hope that was the case as that would be the healthiest emotion Makoto had ever felt in regards to his situation with Haruka.

Rin had just come back from Australia, from his liberation, from his self-reaffirmation and Makoto, in return, was close, so very close to his breaking point.

And he didn't even see it clearly yet.

So Rin had watched. He had observed Makoto as he transformed into a ticking bomb, day by day, minute by minute, hoping he would be able to rationalize and yet knowing all too well a huge blast would be the only viable solution for him to break free.

Rin looked at him as his strokes fended the water out of pure despair.  
Of course, he knew. Of course, Makoto was aware that you need to pace yourself during a 200 meters competition, or you'll end up way too exhausted to really be a match, especially for someone like Haruka.

But it didn't matter to him, and Rin was aware of that. Winning or losing wasn't important to Makoto, not anymore. And, most of all, not there, in the lane right next to Haruka's, in a huge competition, in front of everybody else.

He was swimming towards his salvation and that was it. Just like Rin, he only wanted to escape.

  


**\- The End -**

  


  



End file.
